Skype Android security vulnerability confirmed

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Using Skype on your Android phone? Well you might want to think about that move a little bit longer, after Skype has admitted there is a loophole in the app that would allow third-party apps to gain access to the Skype app.

“It has been brought to our attention that, were you to install a malicious third-party application onto your Android device, then it could access the locally stored Skype for Android files,” says Skype on the company’s blog. “These files include cached profile information and instant messages.”

What are your options? Well you can either remove the Android app altogether or make sure that you haven’t got “dodgy” third-party apps installed on your phone until Skype can come up with a fix.

“We take your privacy very seriously and are working quickly to protect you from this vulnerability, including securing the file permissions on the Skype for Android application.”

To protect your personal information, we advise users to take care in selecting which applications to download and install onto their device.

Of course only you will know whether you’ve been getting your apps from houses of disrepute rather than official sources, but for now until a fix is issued we would recommend only sticking with apps you’ve got from the Google Android Marketplace, and if you can’t be 100 per cent sure of where they came from stop using Skype for Android for the time being.